SBOBET
SBOBET.com is an online bookmaker. The website has operations in Asia licensed by the PhilippinesFirst Cagayan: Operators and operations in Europe licensed by the Isle of ManLicensees on the Isle of Man Isle of Man Government to operate as an international sports bookmaker. The company offers betting on all major sports in multiple languages. In February 2009, the Isle of Man based operations of SBOBET became the first operator licensed in Isle of Man to be granted approval to launch a live dealer casino from the island. Sponsorship SBOBET was the shirt sponsor of West Ham United up until the end of 2012-2013 season. They were also the shirt sponsor of Cardiff City for 2010-2011 season.Cardiff City Name SBOBET as New Club Sponsor, Brands in Football, 29 September 2008, accessed 1 October 2009 In October 2009, due to concerns raised by representatives of the Premier League about exposing youth to gambling, SBOBET replaced their logo on all Cardiff City youth academy team shirts with that of the Ty Hafan Children's Hospice. Celton Manx, operator of SBOBET, announced in August 2013 its Asian Betting Partnership agreements with five Premier League teams, becoming the official Asian betting partner of Swansea City A.F.C., West Ham United F.C., Southampton F.C., Hull City A.F.C. and Norwich City F.C. for the 2013-14 season. Five Prominent Premier League Teams Forge Partnership with SBOBET, SBOBET BETimes, 26 August 2013, accessed 16 September 2013 SBOBET was also the title sponsors for the first Soccerex Asian Forum held in Singapore. Awards At the annual EGR Awards organized by eGaming Review Magazine, SBOBET was awarded the "Asian Operator of the Year" award for year 2009 and 2010.The EGR Awards Winners 2009, eGaming Review, 1 December 2009, accessed 9 December 2009.EGR Operator Awards: The winners, eGaming Review, 26 November 2010, accessed 29 November 2010. SBO ranks 11th on the list of Power 50 companies in eGaming Review's 2011 ranking of the 50 most influential operators. Controversy In October 2008, SBOBET was asked to turn over any evidence they might have on the possible match fixing scandal in The Football Association (FA) championship between Norwich City and Derby County. SBOBET denied the FA's request, deeming it was "excessive" and would be a breach of customer privacyFA match-fixing inquiry hits wall of silence, The Guardian, 29 October 2008, accessed 14 March 2009 Derby County won the game 2–1. In the end, the FA found no evidence that match fixing had taken place.Match-fixing inquiry closed by FA, BBC News, 5 December 2008, accessed 14 March 2009 On 24 September 2009, two Bulgarian news agencies Novinite.com and 24 Chasa Daily published articles that wrongly suggested that SBOBET was responsible for fixing the football match between Levski and CSKA Sofia. The two agencies subsequently published correction articles, stating that SBOBET was not involved in any match-fixing scams, and apologized to SBOBET for publishing the untrue information. In October 2009, representatives of the Premier League criticised 188BET and SBOBET for offering live betting on academy football games, maintaining that children and youth activities should not be exposed by international gambling organisations. Both bookmakers subsequently suspended betting on academy games and expressed their intention to seek clarification from the Premier League and the Professional Footballers' Association about which football markets they should be allowed to offer. In October 2014, Singapore Parliament passed the Remote Gambling Bill to ban the entire spectrum of remote gambling, including internet, telephone, interactive television, radio and any other communication technology. The bill will be effective to individual gamblers, facilitators, runners and operators. Website and payment transactions will be blocked as well as the advertisements will be banned. Although the new law will enact in 2015, SBOBET has a clear policy not to take bets from countries where making or accepting bets is illegal. New account from Singapore IP address is not accepted and there is no Singapore in the drop-down list in the sign-up page. For the current Singapore based customers, the company notifies the effect of the Bill in advance. The accounts will be closed once the law comes into effect. SBOBET will take all necessary steps to comply with the new law. Notes External links * SBOBET Official Website Category:Gambling companies of the Isle of Man Category:Gambling companies of the Philippines Category:Gambling websites Category:Bookmakers Category:Sports betting